Washing-machine



A FLEMING.

WASHING MACHINE. No. 243,878. Patented July 5, 1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER FLEMING, OF ORLEANS, IOWA.

WASHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,878, dated July 5, 1881.

Application filed April 30, 1881.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER FLEMING, of Orleans, in the county of Appanoose and State of Iowa, have invented a new Improvement in WashingMachines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to a machine for washiililgclothesbypnmpingorforcingwaterthrough t em.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of an apparatus embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is a top view of the water-tank, clothes-receptacle, and follower. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the piston or plunger.

The various parts of the apparatus may be made of wood, zinc, galvanized iron, or any other suitable material, and the general form of the tub or tank and the parts held by it may be angular or of any other desired shape.

A represents a tank or tub for holding water.

B is the clothes-receptacle, consisting of a' box provided with perforations b in its bottom. It is provided with short feet a, which rest in the bottom of the tank A, and it is prevented from moving longitudinally or laterally by means of an gle-posts a attached to the bottom of the tank and engaging with the corners of the box.

0 is a follower, consisting of a skeleton-plate or a frame-work. It is placed over the clothes in the box B, and is held in place by means of chains D, each of which has its lower end secured to the bottom of the box B and its'upper portion arranged to engage with pins e on the top of the follower. F is a piston or plunger, workingin the box B above the follower. It is provided with an upwardly-exteudin g rod or stem, g, to the upper end of which is pivoted a hand-lever, H, having its fulcrum in or on a standard, J, carried by the box B.

The tank or tub A is supplied with a suita- (ModeL) The box or clothes re- 5 follower O is then placed over the clothes and held down by the chainsD, hooked over the pins or studs 0. The piston or plunger F is then placed in the box above the follower and the lever H adjusted to the rod or stem g. The clothes are cleansed by working the piston or plunger up and down by means of the lever, which operation alternately sucks or pumps the water up and forces it down through the clothes and through the perforations in the box and the skeleton-follower resting over them, so as to extract the dirt and force it out of the clothes by the currents of water passing through them.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An apparatus for washing clothes by forcing water through them, consisting of a water tank or tub, a perforated box or clothes receptacle resting in said tank, a skeleton-follower for holdingdown the clothes, and a piston or plunger working above the follower and provided with means for operating it, substantiall y as and for the purposes herein shown and described.

2. The combination, with the clothes-receptacle B, of the skeleton-follower 0, provided with the pins e, and the chains D, engaging with said pins, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

3. The combination, with the perforated clothes-receptacle B and the skeleton-follower O, of the piston or plunger F, provided with the rod or stem g, and the hand-lever H for operating said piston or plunger, substantially as herein described.

ALEXANDER FLEMING. Witnesses:

J. BUROHETT, B. B. BURcHE'rT. 

